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What is a Commodity ETF?

Every serious investor should look at the advantages that investing in commodity ETFs can bring to their investment portfolios. Because owning and trading commodities can be very difficult to do on a small scale, funds have come about to allow every-day investors to add exposure to the commodities markets. One of the easiest ways to jump into commodity trading is through exchange-traded funds. Exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, are investment funds that are traded on stock exchanges. ETFs hold assets of different companies, bonds, or commodities, and their share price reflects the net asset value of the fund itself during the course of a trading day.

Commodity ETFs (CETFs or ETCs) focus on commodities such as precious metals, agriculture, and futures. They can be broad or very specific. If you are looking to gain some exposure to agriculture as a whole market segment, there are many agriculture ETF options to choose from, such as the PowerShares DB Agriculture Fund (DBA), which focuses on corn, wheat, soy beans, and sugar. If, on the other hand, you are wanting exposure in a specific commodity, such as gold, there are also many different options for you, such as the streetTRACKS Gold Shares ETF (GLD). Let’s look at the breakdown of commodity ETF options on the market today.

Commodity ETF Breakdown

When you look at the different commodity ETF trading options on the market today, the easiest way to categorize them is to break them down into different sub-groups. These sub-groups will help you see which ETF will fit into your portfolio.

Broad vs Specific ETF

The first sub-group categorization method is to break them down by:

broad

specific

This is discussed as an example in the paragraphs above, and is a great way to customize your portfolio for the right amount of exposure to different commodities.

Commodity Type

The second categorization method is to break them down into commodity type. There are many different commodities that can be purchased as an ETF. Below are a few options:

Petroleum Products

These are just a few of the options available. Notice that with each of these categories and sub-categories, you can get as specific or blended as you want. This is one of the advantages of utilizing ETFs in your investment portfolio. You can add as much exposure to a specific or broad market as you feel comfortable with.

Physically owned commodities vs Futures trading strategy

The third way to categorize your options is to break them into the following:

Physically owned commodity

Futures trading strategy

ETFs that physically own the commodity are not as common as ETFs that utilize a futures trading strategy. Most ETFs on the market today utilize a futures trading strategy to roll front-month futures contracts. This makes a difference in the exposure of your money to the commodity, and sometimes doesn’t react in a linear fashion. For example: if you were to purchase a Copper ETF that physically owned the commodity, as the value of the copper goes up, so does the value of your ETF shares in a roughly linear fashion. But owning shares in a Copper ETF that utilizes a futures trading strategy might not behave linearly, depending on other factors. These other factors involve risk in prices along the term structure of the contract, such as a high cost to roll. Make sure you read all the fine print of each exchange-traded fund that you are interested in buying shares in.

Keep these things in mind as you break down the different commodity ETF options that interest you.

Commodity ETF Advantages

Because the every-day investor has limited resources and doesn’t have access to the trading floor, utilizing ETFs for gaining exposure in commodities markets is a great advantage of these types of funds. ETFs can be purchased like common stock, and can be done through a broker, over the phone, or through your online trading platform. They offer many of the same advantages of mutual funds, but with more flexibility, and without many of the built in costs. When it comes to commodity ETF taxation, you will deal with the taxes like you would with any normal common stock. Because of the way ETFs are structured, capital gains or losses are dealt with differently than mutual funds, which often pass along any gain to the shareholder. That gain is then taxable, even if the gain is used to purchase more shares. ETFs are taxed like common shares, with capital gains of the stock price being taxed after you sell or ‘realize’ the gain.

This website is dedicated to providing information to investors about the different commodity ETF options out there. Be sure to read up on each category before jumping into that particular market. Remember that trading commodity ETFs is easy to do, so don’t be intimidated by the big terms. Take the time to learn what this type of fund is all about. There are many advantages to utilizing commodity exchange-traded funds within your portfolio. Good luck and happy reading!

There is a rising demand for commodities in the world today. You can profit from this by investing in stocks that produce and sell these commodities. Here is what the demand landscape looks today and why it will only get bigger as time passes.

The two biggest factors in the increase in demand for commodities are China and India. No, they are not new countries. In fact, they are two of the oldest civilizations in the world. The thing that is changing is that they are rising economies with a rising middle class. These are two countries that hold almost half the world’s population, and they are getting richer.

That means they will need raw materials like copper, silver, natural gas, building materials and food in increasing measure. That will be good for mining stocks, agricultural stocks and energy stocks in the US. These are things that we can still export to other countries on the most part. Even if we don’t export these commodities, we have US-based companies that are producing these things and selling them to China and India.

Basics About the Worlds Demand for Commodities

Commodities and basic materials are very much in demand all around the world. The rapid growth of the emerging markets has sparked this rise and it is not expected to ever go back to where it was. That is why you need to understand the stock market basics for this demand of commodities around the globe.

You will want to invest in stocks that are somehow connected to the commodities trade. The rise of emerging markets is the catalyst for this. These economies are creating a middle class that is increasingly consuming more and more goods.

The agricultural sector should boom in the next few years, mostly driven by demand from China. I would invest in stocks that produce and export food. Actually, a lot of investment banks are buying up agricultural properties right now. As always, they are positioning themselves to profit from this boom.

The world is also going to need things like copper, iron and aluminum. These are raw materials that will be needed to produce the consumer goods that will increasingly be in demand. Find a list of stocks here.

Commodity ETFs

Another great way to invest in commodities in the stock market is via ETFs, or exchange traded funds. These are tied directly to prices in commodities markets like oil, gold and silver. There are ETFs for virtually all of these hard assets, including currencies.

There are ones that go long, go short, or even double long and double short. There are options for everyone.

Why I Like Natural Gas ETFs

There are a couple of things that I like about natural gas ETFs in particlar. I know the industry isn’t making tons of money right now, but they will. It’s the fuel of the future. More and more companies are building gas power plants and less coal fired plants. That is because it is cleaner and easier to get government approval.

The thing is, we are running out of crude oil. That is a known fact. Prices will soar and supply will be limited. That means more and more things will start to be powered by other fuel sources. I think natural gas will be one of them.

The other factor is the world’s concern about climate change and global warming. One of the biggest contributors to this is coal fired power plants. China is said to be building one new one every six weeks. As the world moves toward cleaning our atmosphere, we will see the increased use of natural gas for producing electricity.

Many investors are seeking the ability to add commodity exposure to their portfolios. This can be difficult for most home-based investors to achieve through traditional methods. Since the advent of exchange-traded funds, anyone with a brokerage account can now easily jump into the commodities market. When it comes to trading commodities, there isn’t an easier method than by utilizing commodity ETFs.

Why Invest in Silver?

We live in economically uncertain times. Many investors are worried that their investments, and especially long term retirement investments, will be eroded by inflation and dollar devaluation. Commodities offer the ability to add protection to these future possibilities. Oil, natural gas, agriculture, and other precious metals, such as gold and platinum, are all good inflation hedge options for long term retirement portfolios. Silver is another example of this type of hedge, and adds a balance to other commodities investments.

Silver, often thought of as ‘poor man’s gold,’ has many uses in today’s economy. Because of silver’s industrial uses, it has demand beyond that of a currency hedge. Gold lacks this industrial demand. Over 40% of silver is used for industrial purposes ranging from photography to CDs and batteries. Silver is being implemented into some of the most high tech applications that will continue to drive this metal’s demand into the future. One example is the solar panel industry. Silver is use in 90% of all photovoltaic cells used in solar panels. Because silver is not just tied to one sector of industry (like copper to housing, platinum to cars, and gold to electronics) silver is more diverse and more able to withstand industrial slumps (like the housing bust we are going through).

Silver is a historically volatile commodity. Looking back just a few years at the range from 2007-2009 saw silver prices jumping from $13 per ounce to $21 per ounce, and then silver lost almost 50% of its value over just 7 months, only to gain most of it back over the next year. Since 2009, silver has systematically risen to a high of $46.88 per ounce, and sits today at around $33. An uncertain economic future could spell more volatility in silver going forward.

Is ‘poor man’s gold’ right for you? Are you asking yourself, “why should I invest in silver?” If you are looking to add diversity to your retirement portfolio, as well as dollar devaluation and inflation protection, silver is a good piece to add. The keyword here is diversity. Gold, copper, and silver make up a very well diversified precious metals commodity hedge.

How to Invest in Silver

Trading silver, or any precious metal for that matter, the traditional way meant gaining access to a pit trader who would then allocate money towards the commodity. Mutual funds that have positions in silver lack transparency and are riddled with fees. ETFs allow you the ability to bypass brokers and pit traders altogether, as well as increase the transparency in your investments.

Note: Exchange-traded notes (ETNs) are another vehicle to gaining silver exposure, but involve different credit-associated risks.

There are two categories of silver ETF investments:

Direct

Indirect

Investing directly in silver utilizes ETFs that track an index, silver contract futures, or physical silver holdings. This is what commodities investing is all about. Indirect silver investing involves ETFs or ETNs that buy equity in companies that deal with silver production and supply, namely the mining industry. Since the revenues of these companies are directly related to the price of silver, it is a good way to indirectly hold silver.

Below is a breakdown of the different types of silver ETFs (or silver ETNs) available.

Index Funds

Index ETFs are funds that track a specific index. For example, as the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity Index goes up or down, so do specific ETFs that track this index.

Silver Futures Funds

Some silver ETFs trade in futures contracts. The silver ETF or ETN purchases the front month futures contract on the NYMEX, for example. When the front month is within 2 weeks of expiration, they will ‘roll’ the contract into the next month (or sell the position from the front month and buy positions in the next month). This ensures that your position in silver will always be ‘long.’

Leveraged Silver Funds

Leveraging is one of the great tools that often comes with ETF or ETN investing. There are many funds that attempt to double, triple, or quadruple your return. They achieve this through margin investing. For example, the ProShares Ultra Silver ETF (AGQ) is leveraged 2x in an attempt to double your return on silver prices. It is not uncommon to find a 2x silver ETF or 3x silver ETF among the different leveraged silver ETF options on the market.

Inverse Silver Funds

What if you think that the price of silver has over-reached, and you want to bet against the price of silver and make money on it? There are two ways to go about doing this. You can short a silver index ETF or ETN (an ETF short silver, silver short ETF, or double short silver ETF option), which would mean that as the index price decreases, you can sell the stock short and make a profit. There are also inverse silver ETFs and ETNs available. These funds are basically doing the short selling for you, as they track the inverse of the index fund or price of the commodity. Leveraging can also be applied to this investing strategy (for example, you could buy a fund that tracks the inverse of the silver price or index, but triples the return of the short position).

Trading Silver ETF Options

Buying or selling call or put silver options is another method for trading these funds. This is a great way to hedge against a future spike or severe drop in silver price, since you don’t actually have to allocate money until the strike price has been met.

Editor’s note – leveraged investing, margin investing, and options investing include substantially increased risk. Be sure you do your homework and understand exactly how you are allocating your money.

Gold ETF List Of Options

iShares Silver Trust ETF (SLV)

Founded in 2006, SLV seeks to reflect the price of silver. SLV is intended to constitute a simple and cost-effective means of making an investment similar to an investment in physical silver. Although the fund is not the exact equivalent of an investment in silver, they provide investors with an alternative that allows a level of participation in the silver market through the securities market.

Physical Swiss Physical Silver Shares Trust ETF (SIVR)

Founded in 2009, SIVR offers you the opportunity to invest in a silver ETF that has physical backing, or in other words, the fund actually physically holds silver. SIVR seeks to replicate the price of silver bullion. The shares are backed by physical allocated silver bullion held by the custodian. All physical silver held conforms to the London Bullion Market Association’s rules for good delivery. Because SIVR is a physical silver ETF, they are very transparent in their holdings, as they publish them regularly on their site.

PowerShares DB Silver Fund (DBS)

Founded in 2007, DBS tracks the price and yield performance of the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity Index – Optimum Yield Silver Excess Return. The index is a rules-based index composed of futures contracts on silver and is intended to reflect the performance of silver. DBS is an example of an index ETF, and the index fund utilizes a futures-based investing strategy rather than holding physical silver bullion.

E-TRACS USB Bloomberg Commodity (USV)

USV, founded in 2008, tracks the price and performance yield of the UBS Bloomberg CMCI Silver Total Return index. The fund is designed to be representative of the entire liquid forward curve of the silver contracts. The index measures the collateralized returns from a basket of silver futures contracts. It is comprised of the silver futures contracts included in the CMCI with five target maturities.

ProShares Ultra Silver (AGQ)

Also founded in 2008, AGQ seeks to provide daily investment results that correspond to twice (200%) the daily performance of silver bullion as measured by the U.S. Dollar fixing price for delivery in London. The fund invests in any one of or combinations of the financial instruments (swap agreement, futures contracts, forward contracts, option contracts) with respect to the applicable fund’s benchmark to the extent determined appropriate by the Sponsor. AGQ is an example of a leveraged 2x silver ETF.

ProShares UltraShort Silver (ZSL)

ZSL, also founded in 2008, seeks to provide daily investment results that correspond to twice (200%) the inverse (opposite) of the daily performance of silver bullion as measured by the U.S. Dollar fixing price for delivery in London. The fund invests in any one of or combinations of the financial instruments (swap agreement, futures contracts, forward contracts, option contracts) with respect to the applicable fund’s benchmark to the extent determined appropriate by the Sponsor. ZSL is the exact opposite of AGQ and is an example of an inverse leveraged silver ETF.

PowerShares DB Precious Metals ETF (DBP)

Founded in 2007, DBP tracks the price and yield performance of the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity Index – Optimum Yield Precious Metals Excess Return. The index is a rules-based index composed of futures contracts on two of the most important precious metals – gold and silver. The index is intended to reflect the performance of the precious metals sector. DBP is an ETF option for an investor looking to add both gold and silver exposure to their portfolio.

iPath DJ-UBS Precious Metals Sub-Index ETN (JJP)

Another precious metals investment option founded in 2008, JJP seeks tracks the Dow Jones-UBS Precious Metals Total Return Sub-Index. The index is intended to reflect the returns that are potentially available through an unleveraged investment in gold and silver futures contracts as well as the rate of interest that could be earned on cash collateral invested in specified Treasury Bills. This is an ETN option, and has credit-associated risks. If you are looking for a combination of gold and silver exposure, JJP is an option for you.

In Conclusion

Adding commodity exposure to your portfolio through ETF or ETN investing is a great way to add diversity, as well as inflation protection. With the many advantages of ETF trading (intraday investing, low cost, transparency of assets), you can increase your bottom line with respects to investment results.

Silver, often called ‘poor man’s gold,’ has become a valued asset in recent years, and has proven to be an effective inflation hedge. While it’s price is quite volatile, silver offers a good balance to other precious metals such as gold, copper, and platinum. If you are looking for ways to hedge against inflation and devaluation of the dollar, utilizing a silver ETF or ETN to gain exposure to this commodity is a great option.

Disclosure

I have no positions in any ETFs or ETNs mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

Disclaimer: Please remember to do your own research prior to making any investment decisions. This article is not a recommendation to buy or sell any securities or stocks, and is the opinion of the author.

Many investors are seeking the ability to add commodity exposure to their portfolios. This can be difficult for most home-based investors to achieve through traditional methods. Since the advent of exchange-traded funds, anyone with a brokerage account can now easily jump into the commodities market. When it comes to trading commodities, there isn’t an easier method than by utilizing commodity ETFs.

Why Invest in Rice?

When considering the different options of agriculture related commodities, wheat, soy beans, corn, and rice are all favorites. Why would you specifically want to add exposure to the price of rice to your portfolio? Let’s look at some of the reasons below.

Hedge against inflation

Like the other grains within the agriculture sector, rice offers inflation protection. Since inflation is a measure of the CPI, or consumer price index, as the cost of goods and services rises, so does inflation. The cost of groceries is directly related to the price of the raw materials used to make them. A box of Rice Krispies will rise in price if the price of rice rises, for example. Many investors are worried about the current economic climate. They are worried that inflation is inevitable, and their gains and dividends will be eroded by the devaluation of the dollar. Adding exposure to commodities like rice that will rise with inflation will help to hedge against any future inflation.

Decrease in rice farming

About a year ago, there was an article in the Wall Streat Journal that reported that many rice farmers planned on converting their land to grow more profitable soy beans and cotton. This was in response to the drop in long grain rice prices from their highs in April of 2008 through May of 2010. As reported, the effect could be as much as a 30% decrease in the rice farmland in the US. Since rice, cotton, soy beans, and corn often compete for the same farmland, this shift will increase the supply of the other commodities. When investing in agriculture related commodities, it is often advantageous to jump on laggard, which, in this case, is rice. The price of rice is already starting to trend towards the highs of 2008, but it is yet to be seen if the decrease in rice farming is the culprit of rising rice prices.

Natural disasters’ affect on supply

In another article published in the Wall Street Journal (October 2011), a major flood that wiped out 20% of Thailand’s rice production was reported. Add that cut in supply to the rice lost due to droughts in the US (totalling 10% of US production), and it is evident that natural causes can shift the price of rice upwards. These disasters are difficult to predict, and this may not be a reason to invest in rice, but more of a way that the price of rice can be affected.

Increased global demand

Because of natural disasters, reduction in rice farming, and an increasing global population that relies on rice as the number one staple food, the global demand will eventually outstrip the global supply of rice. This will eventually begin to raise the price of rice until supply increases (farmers decide to switch back to the now profitable rice crop).

How to Invest in Rice

Today, there are no pure rice ETF investing options on the market. Investing in rice isn’t as easy as other commodities out there. For example, there are many gold ETF options out there to choose from. To gain exposure in rice, you need to be a little more creative. There are a few ways to do this:

The first two methods are a more indirect ETF investing method. There are plenty of blended agriculture ETFs available, some that have holdings in rice, and some that try to track the sector as a whole without including rice. There will be a research starting point list below. Investing in countries that produce and export rice is a more creative method for gaining rice exposure. Vietnam and Thailand are the two largest exporters of rice in the world, and even though it might be a stretch to invest in an entire economy just to gain exposure in rice, both of these countries are heavily levered in rice, and probably more so than agriculture ETFs out there.

Buying rice futures directly is another method for investing in rice, but it is not as easy as utilizing an ETF. Buying futures contracts can be tricky and not remembering to roll the contract over to the next month can mean that you get a large shipment of rice at your door. For most investors, sticking with an ETF, if available, is the best way to go. Let’s look at some options below.

Rice ETF List of Options

Agriculture ETF

PowerShares DB Agriculture Fund (DBA)

Founded in 2007, DBA tracks the price and yield performance of the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity Index – Optimum Yield Agriculture Excess Return. The index is a rules-based index composed of futures contracts on some of the most liquid and widely traded agricultural commodities, such as corn, wheat, soy beans and sugar. The index is intended to reflect the performance of the agricultural sector. Rice makes up less than 3% of the fund.

ELEMENTS Rogers Intl Commodity Agriculture ETN (RJA)

Founded in 2007, RJA tracks the Rogers International Commodity Index Agriculture Total Return index. The index represents the value of a basket of 20 agricultural commodity futures contracts. Rice makes up approximately 1.4% of the index, which is a relatively small percentage. RJA is also an ETN, which is different than an ETF in that it involves credit-associated risk.

iPath Dow Jones UBS Agriculture TR Sub-Index ETN (JJA)

Also founded in 2007, JJA tracks the price and yield performance of the Dow Jones-UBS Agriculture Total Return Sub-Index. The note is designed to reflect the performance of agricultural commodities. The index is composed of seven futures contracts: soybeans, corn, wheat, cotton, soybean oil, coffee and sugar. While rice does not make up a part of the holdings, the index seeks to track the agriculture sector as a whole. JJA is also an ETN rather than an ETF, and a closer look at the credit-associated risk in needed.

Country ETF

iShares MSCI Thailand Index Fund ETF (THD)

THD, founded in 2008, tracks the price and yield performance of the MSCI Thailand Investable Market Index. THD invests 90% of its assets in the securities of the underlying index or in DRs representing securities in its underlying index. The underlying index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index designed to measure broad-based equity market performance in Thailand. It will concentrate its investments in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the underlying index is concentrated.

Market Vectors Vietnam ETF (VNM)

VNM, founded in 2009, tracks the price and yield performance of the Market Vectors Vietnam Index. VNM invests 80% of its total assets in securities that comprise the index. VNM, using a ‘passive’ or indexing investment approach, attempts to approximate the investment performance of the index by investing in a portfolio of securities that generally replicates the index.

In Conclusion

Adding commodity exposure to your portfolio through ETF investing is a great way to add diversity, as well as inflation protection. With the many advantages of ETF trading (intraday investing, low cost, transparency of assets), you can increase your bottom line with respects to investment results.

Rice has the ability to add inflation protection to your portfolio. While there are still no pure rice ETF options on the market today, there are ways to invest and lever towards rice, if you are creative. The above options will help you get started as you research ways to add this commodity to your portfolio.

Disclosure

I have no positions in any ETFs or ETNs mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

Disclaimer: Please remember to do your own research prior to making any investment decisions. This article is not a recommendation to buy or sell any securities or stocks, and is the opinion of the author.

Many investors are seeking the ability to add commodity exposure to their portfolios. This can be difficult for most home-based investors to achieve through traditional methods. Since the advent of exchange-traded funds, anyone with a brokerage account can now easily jump into the commodities market. When it comes to trading commodities, there isn’t an easier method than by utilizing commodity ETFs.

Why Invest in Unconventional Oil and Gas?

The traditional methods for obtaining oil have long produced large quantities at relatively low costs. But with the rising price of oil and its by-products, many exploration companies are delving into unconventional methods for extracting oil and natural gas products from the earth. Known in the industry as ‘fracking,’ hydraulic fracturing is a method for recovering hydrocarbon deposits from the ground. This method is used to extract coalbed methane, shale oil, shale gas, coal seam gas, tight natural gas, and tight oil sands.

As stated above, with the rising price of oil, there has been an increase in incentive for companies to develop technologies to extract these resources. Advancements in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have made it easier and more cost efficient to recover deposits of hydrocarbons. This recent boom in unconventional oil and gas exploration has occurred in North and South America, as well as in Europe and Asia, partly as a way for countries to become more independent from Middle Eastern oil, and also as a way to boost exports. This is particularly true for countries that are in need of an economic boost.

This segment of resource commodities is relatively untouched, as the technology is brand new and companies are just starting to jump into this segment. But it doesn’t come without risk. There are basically two risks associated with this investment:

Environmental concerns

Because fracking and horizontal mining is new technology, there isn’t a lot of published data on the effects that these methods have on the health of the environment, and particularly ground water. There is mounting concern that these mining techniques leach harmful chemicals into the ground water, rendering it undrinkable. Activists consider these techniques ‘strip mining,’ and portray them as a sort of scorched earth. This bad press, along with possible future regulations by the EPA or other government agencies around the world, has the potential to stop unconventional oil and gas exploration and mining in its tracks.

Oil price

Because the technology and techniques involved in fracking are new and expensive, the price of oil needs to remain high for there to be enough payoff for going after those reserves. As long as oil commodities prices remain high, the risk remains minimal. Keep in mind that oil price depends on global supply and demand, and for the foreseeable future, demand will continue to rise. Future developments in alternative energy could play a role in diminishing that demand, but have yet to make any significant breakthroughs.

How to Trade Unconventional Oil and Gas

There are basically two methods for investing in unconventional oil and gas commodities:

Direct

Indirect

The best way to invest directly in unconventional oil and gas is to utilize ETFs that track an index, oil and gas contract futures, or physical oil and gas holdings. This is what commodities investing is all about. Unfortunately, once the commodity has reached the market, there is no difference from oil harvested by an unconventional method versus conventional drilling, so you will track the price of oil or natural gas. Investing indirectly in unconventional oil and gas commodities involves either investing directly in equities of companies that deal with these commodities, or by utilizing ETFs that buy equity in those same companies. Since the revenues of these companies are directly related to the price of shale oil, shale gas, coalbed methane, and other unconventional oil and gas commodities, it is a good way to indirectly ‘hold’ these commodities.

Since this is an article about ETFs, we will focus on a direct and an indirect ETF option for unconventional oil and gas investing.

Unconventional Oil and Gas ETF List of Options

Direct

IQ Global Oil Small Cap ETF (IOIL)

IOIL, founded in 2011, is a global small cap oil production and exploration focused ETF. IOIL tracks the price and yield performance of the IQ Global Oil Small Cap Index. The underlying index is a rules based, modified capitalization weighted, float adjusted index intended to give investors a means of tracking the overall performance of the global, small capitalization sector of publicly traded companies that are engaged primarily in the oil sector.

IOIL provides exposure to global small cap companies engaged in the areas of exploration and production, refining and marketing, and equipment, services and drilling. IOIL holds equity in approximately 60 securities, with exposure split between US and international securities. IOIL is comprised mostly of refining and marketing companies. Exploration and equipment firms come in second. When looking at individual securities held by IOIL, the Dutch company Core Laboratories (CLB) is the number 1 held security, followed by Oceaneering International (OII) and HollyFrontier (HFC).

Indirect

Market Vectors Unconventional Oil & Gas ETF (FRAK)

Founded in February of 2012, FRAK is so far the only ETF option that specifically targets the unconventional oil and gas industry. FRAK tracks the price and yield performance of the fund (the ‘index’). FRAK invests at least 80% of its total assets in securities that comprise the fund’s benchmark index. The index is comprised of securities of companies involved in the exploration, development, extraction, production and/or refining of unconventional oil and natural gas. The index contains companies that generate at least 50% of their revenues from unconventional oil and gas or that own properties with the potential to generate at least 50% of their revenues from this segment.

FRAK holds 43 securities, including Canadian Natural Resources LTD (CNQ) as its top holding, followed by Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY) and EOG Resources Inc (EOG). The variety of companies that FRAK holds adds diversity and limits the risks talked about above.

In Conclusion

Adding commodity exposure to your portfolio through ETF investing is a great way to add diversity, as well as inflation protection. With the many advantages of ETF trading (intraday investing, low cost, transparency of assets), you can increase your bottom line with respects to investment results.

Unconventional oil and gas ETF investing is an intriguing option for commodities investors. With the creation of FRAK, the first ETF in this sector of natural resources, investors now have the ability to gain exposure in this new and quickly developing field. If you are looking to add a different kind of oil and gas exposure to your portfolio, FRAK is a good way to go.

Disclosure

I have no positions in any ETFs or ETNs mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

Disclaimer: Please remember to do your own research prior to making any investment decisions. This article is not a recommendation to buy or sell any securities or stocks, and is the opinion of the author.

Many investors are seeking the ability to add commodity exposure to their portfolios. This can be difficult for most home-based investors to achieve through traditional methods. Since the advent of exchange-traded funds, anyone with a brokerage account can now easily jump into the commodities market. When it comes to trading commodities, there isn’t an easier method than by utilizing commodity ETFs.

Why Invest in Oil?

Crude Oil is a commodity that affects every consumer on the planet. Its by-products are used to generate electricity and heat, fuel global transportation, and to make plastics and composite materials that are used in a wide variety of household goods. Because oil is so integral to daily life, the benchmark price is watched closely by not only active commodities investors, but by everyday common consumers. This has become even more true in the last few years because of the skyrocketing price of oil, and the subsequent spike of the price of crude oil’s by products.

Everyone is familiar with the price of a gallon of gasoline. Whether you fill up your gas tank weekly, monthly, or somewhere in between, the rising gasoline price has impacted every facet of family life, from vacations to buying groceries. The price of oil (and subsequently the price of gasoline and other crude oil based products) is dependent, like everything, on supply and demand. There are events that can cause dramatic shifts to the supply of oil, such as:

Natural Disasters

We can all remember hurricane Katrina, and the havoc that it caused on the gulf coast. Because of that natural disaster, many of the oil refineries located in Louisiana were damaged or destroyed completely. Because of this, the price of crude oil, as well as natural gas, skyrocketed. Other natural disasters could cause similar cuts to the supply, increasing prices.

OPEC Production Levels

The production of oil from the Middle East is based on what this cartel decides. If there is a weak global demand for oil (like what can happen during a worldwide recession), OPEC can cut production to spur a shortage and increase in price.

Alternative Energy Production

With the increased focus on becoming less reliant on oil, technological advances in the alternative energy sector have been significant. Solar, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, and bio-fuel power sources have increased in popularity and demand across the world. If these energy sources become viable long term replacements for oil, the demand for oil could drop. This is a future development, as the alternative energy sources in question have major obstacles and prohibitively high start-up costs associated with them.

Conflict in the Middle East

The Middle East is a hot bed of conflict. Many Middle Eastern countries are almost completely supported by the production and exportation of oil, which adds fuel to the tension. Civil war, civil unrest, and all out conflict can cause a stoppage of production form countries that are involved.

Increased Global Demand

The global population continues to rise, and with it, the demand for oil based products. There are many countries that are emerging from under-developed 3rd world nations into industrial powers, such as Brazil, China, and India. The later two countries make up a third of the world’s total population, and many are being introduced into the world of automobiles and planes.

Government Regulation

Because of the popularity of oil ETFs and the recent surge of money into this market, the size of these funds has gotten to the point that many regulatory agencies are concerned about the speculative behavior of these funds. In the news, it is not uncommon to hear that the price of oil is fluctuating not based on supply or demand, but because of speculative investing. Regulatory agencies are investigating the possibility of stepping in and limiting the amount of positions and contracts that specific funds can hold. This could limit the ability of a fund to grow.

Supply and demand is at the forefront when it comes to pricing of any commodity on the market, so an increase in demand (whether it be from global increases or natural causes) or a decrease in supply (from a storm knocking out production) will give the price upward correction.

So why invest in crude oil? One specific benefit of gaining exposure to crude oil in your portfolio is the ability to hedge against inflation. With an increasing global demand of oil-based products, positions of crude oil in your portfolio will help you keep up with increased inflation.

How to Invest in Oil

Trading crude oil the traditional way meant gaining access to a pit trader who would then allocate money towards natural gas futures contracts. Mutual funds that have positions in crude oil lack transparency and are riddled with fees. ETFs allow you the ability to bypass brokers and pit traders altogether, as well as increase the transparency in your investments.

ETFs in crude oil can track different aspects of this commodity, such as:

Crude oil exploration

Crude oil drilling

Crude oil refining and production

Crude oil supplying

Diversified crude oil ETFs will include all of these at some pre-determined percentage. Exploration is a higher risk investment than supply; so many diversified funds spread the risk out based on their specific goal.

Oil investments can also be broken down into two other categories of ETFs:

Direct

Indirect

Investing directly in crude oil means investing in the physical commodity (through futures contracts, options, exchange traded notes). Investing indirectly in crude oil means investing in equities of companies that deal in the exploration, drilling, refining, production, and supply of oil. Since these companies profit based on the price of oil, your investment will mirror the benchmark price of crude.

There are several different methods for trading crude oil ETFs. These oil investment methods are discussed below.

Crude Oil Index Funds

Index ETFs are funds that track a specific index. For example, as the Dow Jones UBS Crude Oil Sub-Index goes up or down, so do specific ETFs that track this index.

Crude Oil Futures Funds

Most crude oil ETFs trade in near term futures contracts. Futures have a direct influence on crude oil prices. The crude oil ETF purchases the front month futures contract on the NYMEX, for example. When the front month is within 2 weeks of expiration, they will ‘roll’ the contract into the next month (or sell the position from the front month and buy positions in the next month). This ensures that your position in crude oil will always be ‘long.’ Contango risk, or the possibility of the long term contracts being priced higher than near term contracts, exists with this trading strategy.

Leveraged Crude Oil Funds

Leveraging is one of the great tools that often comes with ETF investing. There are many funds that attempt to double, triple, or even quadruple your return. They achieve this through margin investing. For example, the ProShares Ultra DJ-AIG Crude Oil (UCO) ETF tracks the Dow Jones USB Crude Oil Sub-Index, but is leveraged 2x in an attempt to double your return. It is not uncommon to find a 2x crude oil ETF or an oil ETF 3x option among the different leveraged oil ETF options on the market.

Inverse Crude Oil Funds

What if you want to bet against the price of crude oil and make money on it? There are two ways to go about doing this. You can short a crude oil index ETF, which would mean that as the index price decreases, you can sell the stock short and make a profit. There are also inverse oil ETF options available. These funds are basically doing the short selling for you, as they track the inverse of the index fund (basically a short oil ETF). Leveraging can also be applied to this investing strategy (for example, you could buy a fund that tracks the inverse of the crude oil index, but triples the return of the short position).

Trading Crude Oil ETF Options

Buying or selling call or put options for a crude oil ETF is another method for trading these funds. This is a great way to hedge against a future spike or severe drop in oil price, since you don’t actually have to allocate money until the strike price has been met.

Crude Oil ETF List Of Options

United States Oil Fund (USO)

Founded in 2006, USO seeks to reflect the performance of the spot price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light, sweet crude oil. USO invests in futures contracts for WTI light, sweet crude oil, other types of crude oil, heating oil futures, gasoline, natural gas and other petroleum based-fuels that are traded on exchanges. It also invests in other oil interests such as cash-settled options on oil futures contracts, forward contracts for oil, and OTC transactions that are based on the price of oil. USO is an example of a futures contract related oil ETF.

PowerShares DB Oil Fund (DBO)

DBO was founded in 2007 and tracks the price and yield performance of the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity Index – Optimum Yield Oil Excess Return. The index is a rules-based index composed of futures contracts on Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) and is intended to reflect the performance of crude oil. DBO is an example of an index ETF.

ProShares Ultra DJ-AIG Crude Oil ETF (UCO)

UCO, founded in 2008, seeks to provide daily investment results that correspond to twice (2x) the daily performance of the Dow Jones UBS Crude Oil Sub-Index. The fund invests primarily in any one of or combinations of Financial Instruments, including swap agreements, futures contracts, and options on futures contracts or forward contracts with respect to the applicable benchmark. It invests other assets in cash or in cash equivalents and/or U.S. Treasury securities or other high credit quality short-term fixed-income or similar securities that serve as collateral for the financial instruments. UCO is an example of a leveraged oil ETF.

ProShares UltraShort DJ-AIG Crude Oil ETF (SCO)

Also founded in 2008, SCO seeks to provide daily investment results that correspond to twice (200%) the inverse (or opposite) of the daily performance of the Dow Jones UBS Crude Oil Sub-Index. The fund invests in any one of or combinations of the financial instruments (swap agreement, futures contracts, forward contracts, option contracts) with respect to the applicable fund’s benchmark. It invests other assets in cash or in cash equivalents and/or U.S. Treasury securities or other high credit quality short-term fixed-income or similar securities that serve as collateral for the financial instruments. SCO is an example of an inverse leveraged oil ETF.

ProShares UltraShort Oil & Gas ETF (DUG)

DUG was founded in 2007 as a leveraged inverse ETF. The investment seeks daily investment results that correspond to twice the inverse (-2x) of the daily performance of the index. The fund invests in derivatives that should have similar daily return characteristics as twice the inverse (-2x) of the daily return of the index.

ProShares Ultra Oil & Gas ETF (DIG)

Founded at the same time as DUG above, DIG seeks daily investment results which correspond to twice (200%) the daily performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Oil & Gas Index. The fund invests in equity securities and derivatives that should have similar daily return characteristics as twice (200%) the daily return of the index. Like DUG, DIG is a non-diversified ETF.

PowerShares DB Crude Oil Double Short ETN (DTO)

DTO was founded in 2008 and tracks the price and yield performance of 200% (2x) of the inverse (or opposite) daily performance of the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity index – Optimum Yield Oil Excess Return. The fund allows investors to take a short view on the performance of the index. The index is a rules-based index composed of futures contracts on light sweet crude oil (WTI) and is intended to reflect the performance of crude oil. DTO is an ETN rather than an ETF, and has credit-associated risks involved.

Indirect Oil ETFs

iShares Dow Jones U.S. Oil & Gas Ex Index ETF (IEO)

IEO was founded in 2006 and tracks the price and yield performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Oil Exploration & Production Index. The fund invests 90% in securities of the underlying index. The index measures the performance of the oil exploration and production sub-sector of the U.S. equity market. It includes companies that are engaged in the exploration for and extraction, production, refining, and supply of oil and gas products. IEO is an example of an ETF that tracks an index, and is focused on oil exploration and production. This is a good way to indirectly invest in oil.

iShares Dow Jones U.S. Oil Equipment Index ETF (IEZ)

IEZ, founded in 2006, tracks the price and yield performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Oil Equipment & Services Index (the ‘underlying index’). The fund invests 90% of its assets in securities of the underlying index and in depositary receipts representing securities of the underlying index. It may invest the remainder of its assets in securities not included in the underlying index. The fund may lend securities representing up to one-third of the value of the fund’s total assets (including the value of the collateral received). IEZ is another indirect method for gaining exposure to crude oil.

Market Vectors Oil Services ETF (OIH)

Founded at the tail end of 2011, OIH tracks the price and yield performance of the Market Vectors US Listed Oil Services 25 Index. The fund invests at least 80% of its total assets in securities that comprise the fund’s benchmark index. Its benchmark index is comprised of common stocks and depositary receipts of U.S. exchange-listed companies in the oil services sector. OIH is another example of an indirect ETF for gaining oil exposure.

These are a few of the options when it comes to crude oil ETFs on the market today, and this list demonstrates a good starting point to research for an investor looking to add crude oil commodity exposure to their portfolio. Search the crude oil ETF symbol for the respective fund that catches your eye for more information.

In Conclusion

Adding commodity exposure through ETF investing to your portfolio is a great way to add diversity, as well as inflation protection. With the many advantages of ETF trading (intraday investing, low cost, transparency of assets), you can increase your bottom line with respects to investment results. Because of the uncertainty relating to future oil prices, this can be a risky market play. Make sure you do your homework before adding one of the above mentioned ETFs to your portfolio. Remember that adding exposure to crude oil is a good method to hedge against a sour economy. Good luck and happy investing!

Disclosure

I have no positions in any ETFs or ETNs mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

Disclaimer: Please remember to do your own research prior to making any investment decisions. This article is not a recommendation to buy or sell any securities or stocks, and is the opinion of the author.

Many investors are seeking the ability to add commodity exposure to their portfolios. This can be difficult for most home-based investors to achieve through traditional methods. Since the advent of exchange-traded funds, anyone with a brokerage account can now easily jump into the commodities market. When it comes to trading commodities, there isn’t an easier method than by utilizing commodity ETFs.

Why Invest in Gold?

In today’s uncertain economy, investors are always looking for ways to hedge against inflation and future uncertainty in the markets. There are many different commodities that offer inflation protection, namely oil, natural gas, and agriculture related commodities. Precious metals are probably the most popular of them all, with gold leading the way.

Gold is every investor’s ‘safe haven’ investment. Gold has proven time and again that it will continue to appreciate in value during economically uncertain times. But why does the value of gold go up when everything else struggles?

The answer to that question lies at the root of the problem during sour economies – inflation. Inflation is tracked by the CPI or consumer price index. As the cost of goods and services increases (because of supply and demand shifts), the CPI goes up. Inflation can rear its ugly head during down economies. But it isn’t just the increase of prices and inflation that makes gold a good investment. It is the devaluation of the dollar.

If you have kept up with the Federal Reserve in recent months (early 2012), you are well aware of the ‘quantitative easing’ going on. This easing has seen the Fed’s interest rate drop in the last few years to almost zero percent. The near zero percent interest rate by the Fed allows banks to borrow money for basically nothing and lend it out for a 3-6% return. This is a form of stimulus that the Fed participates in during recessions to spur job creation and credit flow. To lend money to the banks, the Fed has to crank up the printing presses and make new money. This dilutes the money already on the market. This is where devaluation of the dollar occurs, and while most economists don’t think the US is in any danger of hyperinflation (or the scenario where we would have to add zeros to our money every few weeks), it is hard to argue against the drag the dollar has been on currency markets the last few years.

Therefore, gold is an investment that will allow you to protect your portfolio against further dollar devaluation in the future.

It is important to note that China, among other world powers, has been shifting focus to gold and silver over investments in US Treasuries.

How to Invest In Gold

Trading gold, or any precious metal for that matter, the traditional way meant gaining access to a pit trader who would then allocate money towards the commodity. Mutual funds that have positions in copper lack transparency and are riddled with fees. ETFs allow you the ability to bypass brokers and pit traders altogether, as well as increase the transparency in your investments. Below are outlined different methods of how to invest in ETF gold options.

Note: Exchange-traded notes (ETNs) are another vehicle to gaining gold exposure, but involve different credit-associated risks.

There are two categories of gold ETF (or ETN) investments:

Direct

Indirect

Investing directly in gold utilizes ETFs or ETNs that track an index, gold contract futures, or physical gold holdings. This is what commodities investing is all about. Indirect gold investing involves ETFs or ETNs that buy equity in companies that deal with gold production and supply, namely the mining industry. Since the revenues of these companies are directly related to the price of gold, it is a good way to indirectly ‘hold’ gold.

Below is a breakdown of the different types of gold ETFs (or gold ETNs) available.

Gold Index Funds

Index ETFs are funds that track a specific index. For example, as the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners Index goes up or down, so do specific ETFs that track this index. Many gold benchmark ETF options track specific benchmark idecies.

Gold Futures Funds

Some gold ETFs trade in futures contracts. The gold ETF or ETN purchases the front month futures contract on the NYMEX, for example. When the front month is within 2 weeks of expiration, they will ‘roll’ the contract into the next month (or sell the position from the front month and buy positions in the next month). This ensures that your position in gold will always be ‘long.’

Leveraged Gold Funds

Leveraging is one of the great tools that often comes with ETF or ETN investing. There are many funds that attempt to double, triple, or quadruple your return. They achieve this through margin investing. For example, the Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bull 3x Shares ETF (NUGT) is leveraged 3x in an attempt to triple your return on gold prices. It is not uncommon to find a 2x gold ETF or 2x gold ETN among the different leveraged gold ETF options on the market.

Inverse Gold Funds

What if you think that the price of gold has over-reached, and you want to bet against the price of gold and make money on it? There are two ways to go about doing this. You can short a gold index ETF or ETN, which would mean that as the index price decreases, you can sell the stock short and make a profit. There are also inverse ETFs and ETNs available. These funds are basically doing the short selling for you, as they track the inverse of the index fund or price of the commodity. Leveraging can also be applied to this investing strategy (for example, you could buy a fund that tracks the inverse of the gold price or index, but triples the return of the short position).

Trading Gold ETF Options

Buying or selling call or put options for a gold ETF is another method for trading these funds. This is a great way to hedge against a future spike or severe drop in gold price, since you don’t actually have to allocate money until the strike price has been met.

Editor’s note – leveraged investing, margin investing, and options investing include substantially increased risk. Be sure you do your homework and understand exactly how you are allocating your money.

Gold ETF List Of Options

ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares (SGOL)

SGOL was founded in 2009 and tracks the performance of the price of gold bullion. The trust holds physical gold bullion. The Shares are designed for investors who want a cost-effective and convenient way to invest in gold with minimal credit risk. The advantages of utilizing SGOL to gain gold exposure include: minimal credit risk, flexibility and ease of investment, and low expenses. If you want an ETF that physically holds gold, SGOL might be for you.

ETFS Physical Asian Gold Trust (AGOL)

AGOL is another option of ETF that physically holds gold. AGOL tracks the price of gold bullion. The shares are designed for investors who want a cost-effective and convenient way to invest in gold with minimal credit risk. See SGOL as an alternative. AGOL and SGOL are examples of direct gold investing.

Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX)

Founded in 2006, GDX tracks as closely as possible the price and yield performance of the NYSE Arca Gold Miners Index. The fund generally normally invests at least 80% of its total assets in common stocks and American depositary receipts of companies involved in the gold mining industry. GDX is an example of an indirect ETF option, since it mostly involves equity of mining companies.

Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ)

GDXJ is similar to GDX, but focuses on small to mid cap companies interested in gold mining and exploration. Founded in 2009, GDXJ tracks the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners index. The fund invests at least 80% of total assets in securities that comprise the index. The index tracks the overall performance of foreign and domestic publicly traded companies of small- and medium-capitalization that are involved primarily in the mining for gold and/or silver. GDXJ is another example of indirect gold investing.

Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bull 3x Shares ETF (NUGT)

NUGT, founded at the tail end of 2010, is seeking serious returns. NUGT tracks 300% (3x) of the performance of the NYSE Arca Gold Miners Index. The fund creates long positions by investing at least 80% of net assets in the equity securities that comprise the index and/or financial instruments that provide leveraged and unleveraged exposure to the index. These financial instruments include: futures contracts; options on securities, indices and futures contracts; equity caps, collars and floors; swap agreements; forward contracts; short positions; reverse repurchase agreements; ETFs; and other financial instruments. If you are looking for a leveraged gold ETF, NUGT might be for you.

Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bear 3x Shares ETF(DUST)

DUST is basically the opposite of NUGT. Founded in late 2010 as well, DUST tracks 300% (3x) of the inverse (or opposite) of the performance of the NYSE Arca Gold Miners Index. DUST creates short positions by investing 80% of its net assets in: futures contracts; options on securities, indices and futures contracts; equity caps, collars and floors; swap agreements; forward contracts; short positions; reverse repurchase agreements; exchange-traded funds (ETFs); and other financial instruments that, in combination, provide leveraged and unleveraged exposure to the index.

E-TRACS USB Bloomberg Commodity Gold Total Return ETF (UBG)

Founded in 2008, UBG tracks the price and performance yield of the UBS Bloomberg CMCI Gold Total Return index. The fund is designed to be representative of the entire liquid forward curve of the gold contracts. The index measures the collateralized returns from a basket of gold futures contracts. It is comprised of the gold futures contracts included in the CMCI with five target maturities. UBG is an index ETF that utilizes a futures-based trading strategy.

Gold ETNs

RBS Gold Trendpilot Exchange ETN (TBAR)

TBAR tracks the RBS Gold Trendpilot index (USD). The index utilizes a systematic trend-following strategy to provide exposure to either the Price of Gold Bullion (as defined below) or the yield on a hypothetical notional investment in 3-month U.S. Treasury bills (the ‘Cash Rate’), depending on the relative performance of the Price of Gold Bullion on a simple historical moving average basis. Because TBAR is an ETN, there are credit-associated risks with this investment.

VelocityShares 3x Long Gold ETN (UGLD)

UGLD was founded near the end of 2011 and tracks the S&P GSCI Gold Index. Since it is a leveraged ETN, it seeks three times (3x) the daily return of the index.

VelocityShares 3x Inverse Gold ETN (DGLD)

DGLD, also founded near the end of 2011, tracks the S&P GSCI Gold Index, but because it is an inverse leveraged ETN, it seeks three times (3x) the inverse (or opposite) of the daily return of the index.

In Conclusion

Adding commodity exposure to your portfolio through ETF or ETN investing is a great way to add diversity, as well as inflation protection. With the many advantages of ETF trading (intraday investing, low cost, transparency of assets), you can increase your bottom line with respects to investment results.

Gold is every investor’s favorite ‘safe haven’ investment, and the recent surge of gold prices in the past few years only shows the level of uncertainty in the dollar and in the economy as a whole. If you are looking for ways to hedge against inflation and devaluation of the dollar, utilizing a gold ETF or ETN to gain exposure to this commodity is a great option. Use this information as a starting point to find the best gold ETF for your portfolio.

Disclosure

I have no positions in any ETFs or ETNs mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

Disclaimer: Please remember to do your own research prior to making any investment decisions. This article is not a recommendation to buy or sell any securities or stocks, and is the opinion of the author.

Many investors are seeking the ability to add commodity exposure to their portfolios. This can be difficult for most home-based investors to achieve through traditional methods. Since the advent of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), anyone with a brokerage account can now easily jump into the commodities market. When it comes to trading commodities, there isn’t an easier method than by utilizing commodity ETFs.

Why Invest in Copper?

Most investors looking to add commodity exposure to their portfolios think of oil, gold, and agriculture commodities. These are great positions to have to protect against future inflation. But what about a commodity that will rise with future economic growth? This is where copper comes in.

Copper is technically a precious metal, but definitely doesn’t have the ‘jewelry based’ value of gold or silver. The value of copper is in what it can be used for. Copper is widely used in construction, from pipes in plumbing and roofing to high tech machinery. Many investors see copper as a leveraged play on the health of the global economy, since increased building and production will demand more copper to be used.

One thing to keep in mind is that during economically poor times, the bottom can fall out in the demand for and price of copper. Diversity is the key to weathering hard times. Positions in copper, as well as gold and silver, will hedge you against future uncertainty.

How to Buy Copper Positions

Investing in copper, or any precious metal for that matter, the traditional way meant gaining access to a pit trader who would then allocate money towards the commodity. Mutual funds that have positions in copper lack transparency and are riddled with fees. ETFs allow you the ability to bypass brokers and pit traders altogether, as well as increase the transparency in your investments.

Note: There may not be many options available for strictly copper ETFs. Exchange-traded notes (ETNs) are another vehicle to gaining copper exposure, but have different credit-associated risks associated with them.

Copper ETFs (or ETNs) can track different aspects of this commodity, such as:

Mining industry

Construction industry

Physical copper

Diversified copper funds will include all of these at some pre-determined percentage. There are several different methods for trading copper ETFs. These methods are discussed below.

Index Funds

Index ETFs are funds that track a specific index. For example, as the First Trust ISE Global Copper Index goes up or down, so do specific ETFs that track this index.

Copper Futures Funds

Some copper ETFs trade in futures contracts. The copper ETF or ETN purchases the front month futures contract on the NYMEX, for example. When the front month is within 2 weeks of expiration, they will ‘roll’ the contract into the next month (or sell the position from the front month and buy positions in the next month). This ensures that your position in copper will always be ‘long.’

Leveraged Funds

Leveraging is one of the great tools that often comes with ETF or ETN investing. There are many funds that attempt to double, triple, or quadruple your return. They achieve this through margin investing. For example, the VelocityShares 2x Long Copper ETN (LCPR) is leveraged 2x in an attempt to double your return on copper prices. It is not uncommon to find a 2x copper ETF or 2x copper ETN among the different leveraged copper ETF options on the market.

Inverse Funds

What if you want to bet against the price of copper and make money on it? There are two ways to go about doing this. You can short a copper index ETF or ETN, which would mean that as the index price decreases, you can sell the stock short and make a profit. There are also inverse ETFs and ETNs available, which are basically short copper ETF options. These funds are basically doing the short selling for you, as they track the inverse of the index fund or price of the commodity. Leveraging can also be applied to this investing strategy (for example, you could buy a fund that tracks the inverse of the copper price or index, but triples the return of the short position).

Trading ETF Options

Buying or selling call or put options for a copper ETF is another method for trading these funds. This is a great way to hedge against a future spike or severe drop in copper price, since you don’t actually have to allocate money until the strike price has been met.

Editor’s note – leveraged investing, margin investing, and options investing include substantially increased risk. Be sure you do your homework and understand exactly how you are allocating your money.

Copper ETF List Of Options

First Trust ISE Global Copper Index Fund (CU)

Founded in 2010, CU tracks the price and yield of an equity index called the ISE Global Copper Index. The fund invests at least 90% of assets in common stocks that comprise the index or in depositary receipts representing securities in the index. The index is designed to provide a benchmark for investors interested in tracking public companies that are active in the copper mining business based on analysis of revenue derived from the sale of copper. CU is an example of an index ETF that doesn’t involve futures based trading aspects, since the fund invests in equities.

Global X Copper Miners ETF (COPX)

COPX tracks the price and yield performance of the Solactive Global Copper Miners Index. The fund invests 80% of assets in securities and depositary receipts that comprise the index. The index is designed to measure broad based equity market performance of global companies involved in the copper mining industry. The fund uses a replication strategy. COPX is similar to CU, in that it utilizes an equities based trading strategy to gain exposure to the copper mining industry and its companies. While CU is a more broad-based mining index fund tracker, COPX strictly tracks the mining and supply of copper.

United States Copper Index Fund (CPER)

Founded at the end of 2011, CPER tracks the SummerHaven Copper Index. CPER invests to the fullest extent possible in the Benchmark Component Copper Futures Contracts. It also invests in Treasuries and holds cash and/or cash equivalents to meet its current or potential margin or collateral requirements with respect to its investments in Copper Interests and invests cash not required to be used as margin or collateral. The index is a single-commodity index designed to be an investment benchmark for copper as an asset class. The Copper Index is composed of copper futures contracts on the COMEX exchange. CPER is an example of an index ETF with a futures-based trading strategy.

Copper ETNs

iPath Dow Jones UBS Copper Total Return ETN (JJC)

Founded in 2007, JJC tracks the price and yield performance of the Dow Jones-UBS Copper Total Return Sub-Index. The note is designed to reflect the performance on copper contracts. The index is composed of Copper High Grade futures contract traded on the New York Commodities Exchange. JJC is one of the oldest copper funds on the market today, and it not only tracks the spot price of copper, but also the futures curve. JJC is an ETN, which has different risks associated with it than a traditional ETF.

iPath Pure Beta Copper ETN (CUPM)

CUPM tracks the Barclays Capital Copper Pure Beta TR index. The index is comprised of a single exchange traded futures contract, except during the roll period when the Index may be comprised of two futures contracts. However, unlike many commodity indices which roll their exposure to the corresponding futures contract on a monthly basis in accordance with a pre-determined roll schedule, it may roll into one of a number of futures contracts with varying expiration dates, as selected using the Barclays Capital Pure Beta Series 2 Methodology. This roll strategy mitigates the risk of futures contago, but because CUPM is an ETN, it has other credit associated risks similar to that of JJC.

VelocityShares 2X Inverse Copper ETN (SCPR)

SCPR is looking to return twice (2x) the opposite (inverse) of the S&P GSCI Copper Index ER. The index comprises futures contracts on a single commodity and is calculated according to the methodology of the S&P GSCI Index. SCPR is an example of a leveraged inverse copper ETN, and has specific risks associated with it (inverse, leveraged, futures based strategy, and credit associated risks).

VelocityShares 2X Long Copper ETN (LCPR)

Founded in early February 2012, LCRP tracks the S&P GSCI Copper Index Excess Return (200%). LCPR is a 2x leveraged copper ETN. The index is composed entirely of copper futures contracts and is derived by reference to the price levels of the futures contracts on a single commodity as well as the discount or premium obtained by “rolling” hypothetical positions in such contracts forward as they approach delivery.

In Conclusion

Adding commodity exposure to your portfolio through ETF or ETN investing is a great way to add diversity, as well as inflation protection. With the many advantages of ETF trading (intraday investing, low cost, transparency of assets), you can increase your bottom line with respects to investment results.

Copper is a unique example of a commodity that will grow in value along with the economy, and a great way to diversify your precious metals positions with a commodity that will often go in the opposite direction from the others. Good luck and happy investing!

Disclosure

I have no positions in any ETFs or ETNs mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

Disclaimer: Please remember to do your own research prior to making any investment decisions. This article is not a recommendation to buy or sell any securities or stocks, and is the opinion of the author.

Many investors are seeking the ability to add commodity exposure to their portfolios. This can be difficult for most home-based investors to achieve through traditional methods. Since the advent of exchange-traded funds, anyone with a brokerage account can now easily jump into the commodities market. When it comes to trading commodities, there isn’t an easier method than by utilizing commodity ETFs.

Why A Precious Metals ETF?

We live in economically rough times. In the wake of the most recent recession, jobs are scarce, home values have decreased, and many retirement portfolios have been severely depleted. One of the biggest problems that our economy could face in the near future is inflation. Inflation is normally tracked with the consumer price index, or CPI. This index tracks the price of common goods and services throughout the country, and is a good judge of inflation.

The real cause for concern is the devaluation of the dollar. As the Fed prints more and more money as a way to stimulate the economy (quantitative easing), the value of that money decreases. Increased inflation is a way to see this devaluation in action.

Many investors are worried that their portfolios won’t be able to keep up with inflation if there is a spike in the CPI. Very conservative investment strategies that yield under 5% return might end up being a wash if inflation reaches that number. This is especially troublesome for retirees that live off of their investment returns. There are a few different commodities that offer an inflation and a dollar devaluation hedge. These include oil, agriculture, and precious metals.

The precious metals category, when relating to commodities, includes gold, silver, platinum, and palladium most commonly, but also can include copper and nickel. These metals offer protection against dollar devaluation and inflation. In recent years, we have seen the prices of these metals skyrocket into almost unbelievable price ranges. Any investment strategy, and especially a retirement plan, should seriously consider adding exposure to precious metals through an ETF.

How To Buy Precious Metals

Trading precious metals the traditional way meant gaining access to a pit trader, or physically buying the commodity in question. Mutual funds that have positions in precious metals lack transparency and are riddled with fees. ETFs allow you the ability to bypass brokers and pit traders altogether, as well as increase the transparency in your investments.

When dealing with precious metals, it is not uncommon to find an ETN rather than an ETF. A precious metals ETN is basically a debt product similar to a bond that is issued by a major bank or other supplier as a senior debt note. This differs from an ETF, which is an actual security or commodity or currency derivative, such as options, forwards, and futures. ETNs have different risks associated with them than ETFs, the biggest being credit risk. Keep this in mind if you find a precious metals ETN that you are interested in.

ETFs in precious metals can be broken down into:

Broad precious metals ETF

Specific precious metal ETF

Broad precious metals funds include holdings in:

Gold

Silver

Platinum

Palladium

Nickel

Copper

The first four are the most common precious metals exchange options, and the later two are sometimes incorporated into a broad precious metals fund. The specific precious metal ETF is mostly exclusive with the type of metal you are intereted in. If you want to add gold exposure to your portfolio, look for the best gold ETF to add. If you want silver exposure, look for a silver ETF. Broad ETFs are nice because they allow you to add exposure to all the different metals in one trade, making it easy to diversify.

There are several different methods for trading precious metals ETFs. These methods are discussed below.

Index Funds

Index ETFs are funds that track a specific index. For example, the PowerShares DB Precious Metals (DBP) ETF tracks the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity Index – Optimum Yield Precious Metals Excess Return. As the index goes up or down, so does the share price of DBP.

Leveraged Funds

Leveraging is one of the great tools that often comes with ETF investing. There are many funds that attempt to double, triple, or quadruple your return. They achieve this through margin investing. For example, the ProShares Ultra Gold (UGL) ETF seeks to double the return on the value of gold bullion. It is not uncommon to find a 2x gold ETF or 3x gold ETF among the different leveraged precious metals ETF options on the market.

Inverse Funds

What if you want to bet against the price of precious metals and make money on it? There are two ways to go about doing this. You can short a precious metals index ETF, which would mean that as the index price decreases, you can sell the stock short and make a profit. There are also inverse ETFs available. These funds are basically doing the short selling for you, as they track the inverse of the index fund. Leveraging can also be applied to this investing strategy (for example, you could buy a fund that tracks the inverse of the precious metals index, but triples the return of the short position).

Trading ETF Options

Buying or selling call or put options for a precious metals ETF is another method for trading these funds. This is a great way to hedge against a future spike or severe drop in precious metal prices, since you don’t actually have to allocate money until the strike price has been met.

Precious Metals ETF List Of Options

Broad Precious Metals ETFs

PowerShares Global Gold & Precious Metals (PSAU)

PSAU tracks the NASDAQ OMX Global Gold and Precious Metals Index. Founded in 2008, PSAU invests at least 90% of assets in the securities and ADRs and GDRs based on the securities that comprise the underlying index. It normally invests at least 80% of total assets in securities of companies involved in the gold and other precious metals mining industries. The index is designed to measure the overall performance of globally traded securities of the largest and most liquid companies involved in the gold and other precious metals mining industry. PSAU is an example of a broad precious metals ETF.

iPath Pure Beta Precious Metal (BLNG)

BLNG tracks the Barclays Capital Commodity Index Precious Metals Pure Beta TR index. The index is comprised of a basket of exchange traded futures contracts, and uses an allocation methodology designed to mitigate the effects of certain distortions in the commodity markets on such returns. This ETF utilizes a different futures roll strategy to limit risks. BLNG is another example of a broad precious metals fund.

Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bear (DUST)

Founded in 2010, DUST seeks daily investment results of 300% of the inverse (or opposite) of the performance of the NYSE Arca Gold Miners Index. The fund creates short positions by investing at least 80% of its net assets in: futures contracts; options on securities, indices and futures contracts; equity caps, collars and floors; swap agreements; forward contracts; short positions; reverse repurchase agreements; exchange-traded funds (ETFs); and other financial instruments that, provide leveraged and unleveraged exposure to the index. DUST is an example of an inverse leveraged 3x gold ETF.

FactorShares 2X Gold Bull S&P50 (FSG)

Founded in early 2011, FSG seeks to replicate twice the daily return of the Gold Bull/S&P500 Bear index. The fund is is designed for investors who believe that gold will increase in value relative to the large-cap U.S. equity market segment, in one day or less, by primarily establishing a leveraged long position in Gold futures and a leveraged short position in the E-mini S&P 500 Stock Price index futures. FSG is an example of a leveraged 2x gold ETF.

Silver ETFs

PowerShares DB Silver Fund (DBS)

Founded in 2007, DBS tracks the price and yield performance of the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity Index – Optimum Yield Silver Excess Return. The index is a rules-based index composed of futures contracts on silver and is intended to reflect the performance of silver.

ETFS Physical Silver Shares Tru (SIVR)

SIVR seeks to replicate the price of silver bullion. The shares are backed by physically allocated silver bullion. All physical silver held conforms to the London Bullion Market Association’s rules for good delivery. If you are looking for an ETF that actually physically holds the commodity in question, SIVR is a good example of such a fund.

Platinum and Palladium ETFs

First Trust ISE Global Platinum (PLTM)

PLTM tracks the ISE Global Platinum Index. The fund invests at least 90% of assets in common stocks that comprise the index or in depositary receipts representing securities in the index. The index is designed to provide a benchmark for investors interested in tracking public companies that are active in platinum group metals (PGM) mining based on revenue analysis of those companies. PLTM is a non-diversified ETF.

ETFS Physical Platinum Shares (PPLT)

Founded in 2010, PPLT seeks to reflect the performance of the price of physical platinum. This is another example of an ETF that physically holds the commodity, and is a great way for an investor to manage credit risk that is associated with other ETFs and ETNs.

ETFS Physical Palladium Shares (PALL)

Also founded in 2010, PALL seeks to reflect the performance of the price of physical palladium. PALL is designed for investors who want a cost-effective and convenient way to invest in palladium with minimal credit risk. Advantages of investing in the Shares include: Ease and Flexibility of Investment, Expenses, Minimal Credit Risk.

First Trust ISE Global Copper I (CU)

Founded in 2010, CU tracks the ISE Global Copper Index. The fund invests at least 90% of assets in common stocks that comprise the index or in depositary receipts representing securities in the index. The index is designed to provide a benchmark for investors interested in tracking public companies that are active in the copper mining business based on analysis of revenue derived from the sale of copper. CU is non-diversified.

Global X Copper Miners ETF (COPX)

COPX, founded in 2010, tracks the price and yield performance of the Solactive Global Copper Miners Index. COPX invests at least 80% of assets in securities and depositary receipts that comprise the index. The index is designed to measure broad based equity market performance of global companies involved in the copper mining industry.

Nickel ETNs

iPath Dow Jones UBS Nickel Subi (JJN)

Founded in 2007, JJN tracks the price and yield performance of the Dow Jones-UBS Nickel Total Return Sub-Index. The note is designed to reflect the performance of nickel. The index is composed of the Primary Nickel futures contract traded on the London Metal Exchange. This is an example of an ETN, and has different credit risk associated with it than an ETF.

iPath Pure Beta Nickel ETN (NINI)

NINI is another ETN for nickel. NINI seeks to replicate the Barclays Capital Nickel Pure Beta TR index. The index is comprised of a single exchange traded futures contract, except during the roll period when it may be comprised of two futures contracts. NINI utilizes a specific roll schedule and futures strategy to limit futures roll price risk impact. NINI is another example of an ETN rather than an ETF.

In Conclusion

Adding commodity exposure through ETF investing to your portfolio is a great way to add diversity, as well as inflation protection. With the many advantages of ETF trading (intraday investing, low cost, transparency of assets), you can increase your bottom line with respects to investment results. Precious metals ETFs are an attractive asset to include for these reasons. Use the list above to start your precious metals research. As always, good luck!

Disclosure

I have no positions in any ETFs mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

Disclaimer: Please remember to do your own research prior to making any investment decisions. This article is not a recommendation to buy or sell any securities or stocks, and is the opinion of the author.

Many investors are seeking the ability to add commodity exposure to their portfolios. This can be difficult for most home-based investors to achieve through traditional methods. Since the advent of exchange-traded funds, anyone with a brokerage account can now easily jump into the commodities market. When it comes to trading commodities, there isn’t an easier method than by utilizing commodity ETFs.

Why Agriculture?

In the economically tough times we live in today, inflation is a serious cause for concern for any investor’s portfolio. Inflation can quickly gobble up any gains made from dividends or capital gains. Inflation is often tracked by the CPI, or the consumer price index, which measures changes in the price level of household goods and services. Investors are often on the lookout for investments that can protect against an upward spike in CPI. Common investments that do this are gold and oil, but many investors are now looking into agriculture as a way to hedge against future inflation risk.

There are a few indicators and drivers of agriculture prices. Let’s look at them below.

Global Demand

As the world population continues to increase, demand for consumer products will continue to rise. The prices won’t be affected as long as the supply can keep up, but that is where the problem exists. Land is a limited resource. This will eventually put a hard limit on the amount of agriculture related products that can be produced. This is when the prices will really take off. But even short term, oil prices affect the cost of transporting goods to consumers, and there is strong indication that oil prices will continue to be volatile and high.

Natural Anomalies

Weather conditions tend to have a large impact on agriculture related goods. Tornadoes, hurricanes, wild-fires, floods, and severe droughts can cause short term spikes in agriculture commodities prices. Insects or plant diseases can wipe out entire crops, limiting supply. The fact that production of certain agriculture goods is concentrated in certain regions (for example: oranges in Florida and California, wheat and corn in the Midwest, cattle in Texas and Oklahoma) can be especially disruptive to the supply of these products.

Advancement In Technology

As technology becomes more and more advanced, production of many agriculture goods becomes more efficient and less costly. New tractors, new insecticides, new fertilizers, and new methods for producing these goods are coming out with increased frequency. Advanced technology has enabled the agriculture sector to create more goods with less time, money, and man power. However, technology advancements have also had a negative impact on production. With the boom in ethanol demand, the price of corn spiked, bringing along with it other agriculture related commodities prices. This is an example where new technology is competing for a commodity with the traditional consumers.

If you are an investor that is worried about inflation risk, acquiring more agriculture exposure within your portfolio will help you to mitigate the risk that inflation will have on your assets.

How to Trade Agriculture Goods

Trading agriculture goods the traditional way meant gaining access to a pit trader, or physically buying the commodity in question. Mutual funds that have positions in agriculture related goods lack transparency and are riddled with fees. ETFs allow you the ability to bypass brokers and pit traders altogether, as well as increase the transparency in your investments.

It is important to note that most ETFs involving agriculture utilize a futures-based trade strategy to realize the fund’s objectives. This gets rid of the often expensive and prohibitive necessity to physically own the agriculture commodities in question. For futures trading, the agriculture ETF purchases the front month futures contract on the NYMEX, for example. When the front month is within 2 weeks of expiration, they will ‘roll’ the contract into the next month (or sell the position from the front month and buy positions in the next month).

ETFs in agriculture can track different aspects of this commodity, such as:

Agribusiness

Livestock and Grains

Broad Agriculture

Agribusiness ETFs allow you to indirectly add agriculture commodity exposure to your portfolio. This is because of the fact that there is generally a positive correlation between the profitability of agriculture related businesses and the market prices of agriculture goods and commodities. A more direct method is to invest in livestock and grains ETFs. This targeted investing strategy allows you to gain exposure in futures trading of specific grains (such as wheat, corn, and rice), specific livestock, or both. For a more diversified approach, broad agriculture ETFs allow you to spread your holdings out throughout the sector. A list of the best agriculture ETF options will be provided at the end of this article.

There are several different methods for trading agriculture ETFs. These methods are discussed below.

Index Funds

Index ETFs are funds that track a specific index. For example, as the Rogers International Commodity Index Agriculture Total Return Index goes up or down, so do specific ETFs that track this index.

Leveraged Funds

Leveraging is one of the great tools that often comes with ETF investing. There are many funds that attempt to double, triple, or quadruple your return. They achieve this through margin investing. For example, the PDB Agriculture Double Long ETN (DAG) tracks the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity index – Optimum Yield Agriculture, but is leveraged 2x in an attempt to double your return. It is not uncommon to find a 2x agriculture ETF or 3x agriculture ETF among the different leveraged agriculture ETF options on the market.

Inverse Funds

What if you want to bet against the price of agriculture commodities and make money on it? There are two ways to go about doing this. You can short a agriculture index ETF, which would mean that as the index price decreases, you can sell the stock short and make a profit. There are also inverse ETFs available. These funds are basically doing the short selling for you, as they track the inverse of the index fund. Leveraging can also be applied to this investing strategy (for example, you could buy a fund that tracks the inverse of the agriculture index, but triples the return of the short position).

Trading ETF Options

Buying or selling call or put options for an agriculture ETF is another method for trading these funds. This is a great way to hedge against a future spike or severe drop in agriculture commodities price, since you don’t actually have to allocate money until the strike price has been met.

Agriculture ETF List Of Options

Market Vectors Agribusiness ETF (MOO)

MOO tracks the price and yield performance of the DAXglobal Agribusiness Index. The fund invests at least 80% of total assets in equity securities of U.S. and foreign companies primarily engaged in the business of agriculture, which derive at least 50% of their total revenues from agribusiness. Such companies may include small- and medium-capitalization companies. This is an example of an Agribusiness ETF, and it is non-diversified.

PowerShares Global Agriculture (PAGG)

Since 2008, PAGG tracks the NASDAQ OMX Global Agriculture index. The fund invests at least 90% of assets in the securities and ADRs and GDRs based on the securities that comprise the underlying index. PAGG invests at least 80% of total assets in securities of companies involved in the agriculture industry and farming related activities. The index is designed to measure the overall performance of globally traded securities of the largest and most liquid companies involved in the agriculture industry. PAGG is another example of an Agribusiness ETF, and the fund is non-diversified.

iPath Dow Jones UBS Livestock T (COW)

COW tracks the Dow Jones-UBS Livestock Total Return Sub-Index. The note is designed to reflect the performance of livestock. The index is composed of two futures contracts, lean hogs and live cattle.

E-TRACS UBS Bloomberg CMCI Livestock ETN (UBC)

Also founded in 2008, UBC tracks the price and performance yield of the UBS Bloomberg CMCI Livestock Total Return index. The fund is designed to be representative of the entire liquid forward curve of each commodity. The index measures the collateralized returns from a basket of livestock future contracts. It is comprised of the two livestock futures contracts included in the CMCI two five different target maturities for each individual commodity. Both COW and UBC are examples of Livestock ETFs.

iPath Dow Jones UBS Grains Tota (JJG)

Founded in 2007, JJG tracks the Dow Jones-UBS Grains Total Return Sub-Index. The note is designed to reflect the performance of grains. The index is composed of three futures contracts, corn, soybeans and wheat.

ELEMENTS MLCX Grains Index ETN (GRU)

Founded in 2008, GRU tracks the MLCX Grains Total Return Index. The index is designed to reflect the performance of a fully collateralized investment in the four exchange-traded futures contracts on four physical commodities: corn, soybeans, soy meal and wheat. JJG and GRU are examples of Grain ETFs.

PowerShares DB Agriculture Fund (DBA)

DBA, founded in 2007, tracks the price and yield performance of the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity Index – Optimum Yield Agriculture Excess Return. The index is a rules-based index composed of futures contracts on some of the most liquid and widely traded agricultural commodities of corn, wheat, soy beans and sugar. The index is intended to reflect the performance of the agricultural sector, and is a Broad Agriculture ETF.

iPath Dow Jones UBS Agriculture (JJA)

JJA tracks the Dow Jones-UBS Agriculture Total Return Sub-Index. The note is designed to reflect the performance of agricultural commodities. The index is composed of seven futures contracts: soybeans, corn, wheat, cotton, soybean oil, coffee and sugar. DBA and JJA are examples of Broad Agriculture ETFs.

DB Agriculture Short ETN DB Agr (AGA)

AGA tracks the price and yield performance of the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity index – Optimum Yield Agriculture. The fund is a senior unsecured obligation that allows investors to take a short or leveraged view on the performance of the agriculture sector. The index is composed of roughly equal percentages of corn, wheat, soybean, and sugar futures contracts. AGA is an example of an inverse broad agriculture ETF.

DB Agriculture Double Long ETN (DAG)

DAG tracks the price and yield performance of the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity index – Optimum Yield Agriculture. The fund is a senior unsecured obligation that allows investors to take a leveraged 2x view on the performance of the agriculture sector. The index is composed of roughly equal percentages of corn, wheat, soybean, and sugar futures contracts.

In Conclusion

Adding commodity exposure through ETF investing to your portfolio is a great way to add diversity, as well as inflation protection. With the many advantages of ETF trading (intraday investing, low cost, transparency of assets), you can increase your bottom line with respects to investment results. Agriculture ETFs are an attractive asset to include for these reasons. Hopefully, the list provided above will be a good starting point for you as you delve into agriculture funds investing. Good luck and happy investing!

Disclosure

I have no positions in any ETFs mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

Disclaimer: Please remember to do your own research prior to making any investment decisions. This article is not a recommendation to buy or sell any securities or stocks, and is the opinion of the author.

Many investors are seeking the ability to add commodity exposure to their portfolios. This can be difficult for most home-based investors to achieve through traditional methods. Since the advent of exchange-traded funds, anyone with a brokerage account can now easily jump into the commodities market. When it comes to trading commodities, there isn’t an easier method than by utilizing commodity ETFs.

Why Natural Gas?

We can all remember hurricane Katrina, and the havoc that it caused on the gulf coast. Because of that natural disaster, many natural gas drilling rigs, shipping methods, and refineries located off the coast of Louisiana were damaged or destroyed completely. Shortly after, the price of natural gas, along with other oil products, skyrocketed. While it can be difficult to anticipate such natural disasters, this one was well announced, and many investors took advantage by gaining exposure in natural gas and other oil products.

Looking at the upcoming hurricane season is not the only indication of the possible price shifts of natural gas. Particularly hot summers can increase demand for natural gas, depending on the need from natural gas power plants. Extra cold winters will also strain demand, increasing the price.

Supply and demand is at the forefront when it comes to pricing of any commodity on the market, so an increase in demand (whether it be from global increases or natural causes) or a decrease in supply (from a storm knocking out production) will give the price upward correction.

One specific benefit of gaining exposure to natural gas in your portfolio is the ability to hedge against inflation. With an increasing global demand of oil-based products, positions of natural gas in your portfolio will help you keep up with increased inflation.

How to Trade Natural Gas

Trading natural gas the traditional way meant gaining access to a pit trader who would then allocate money towards natural gas futures contracts. Mutual funds that have positions in natural gas lack transparency and are riddled with fees. ETFs allow you the ability to bypass brokers and pit traders altogether, as well as increase the transparency in your investments.

ETFs in natural gas can track different aspects of this commodity, such as:

Natural gas exploration

Natural gas drilling

Natural gas production

Natural gas supplying

Diversified natural gas funds will include all of these at some pre-determined percentage. Exploration is a higher risk investment than supply; so many diversified funds spread the risk out based on their specific goal.

There are several different methods for trading natural gas ETFs. These methods are discussed below.

Index Funds

Index ETFs are funds that track a specific index. For example, as the Dow Jones USB Natural Gas Subindex goes up or down, so do specific ETFs that track this index.

Natural Gas Futures Funds

Most natural gas ETFs trade in futures contracts. Futures have a direct influence on natural gas prices. The natural gas ETF purchases the front month futures contract on the NYMEX, for example. When the front month is within 2 weeks of expiration, they will ‘roll’ the contract into the next month (or sell the position from the front month and buy positions in the next month). This ensures that your position in natural gas will always be ‘long.’

Leveraged Funds

Leveraging is one of the great tools that often comes with ETF investing. There are many funds that attempt to double, triple, or quadruple your return. They achieve this through margin investing. For example, the ProShares Ultra DJ UBS Natural (BOIL) ETF tracks the Dow Jones USB Natural Gas Subindex, but is leveraged 2x in an attempt to double your return. It is not uncommon to find a 2x natural gas ETF or 3x natural gas ETF among the different leveraged natural gas ETF options on the market.

Inverse Funds

What if you want to bet against the price of natural gas and make money on it? There are two ways to go about doing this. You can short a natural gas index ETF, which would mean that as the index price decreases, you can sell the stock short and make a profit. There are also inverse ETFs available. These funds are basically doing the short selling for you, as they track the inverse of the index fund. Leveraging can also be applied to this investing strategy (for example, you could buy a fund that tracks the inverse of the natural gas index, but triples the return of the short position).

Trading ETF Options

Buying or selling call or put options for a natural gas ETF is another method for trading these funds. This is a great way to hedge against a future spike or severe drop in natural gas price, since you don’t actually have to allocate money until the strike price has been met.

Natural Gas ETF List Of Options

United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG)

UNG was founded in 2007, around 2 years after hurricane Katrina. UNG invests in natural gas futures contracts traded on the NYMEX. It is a fund that seeks to replicate the performance of natural gas.

First Trust ISE-Revere Natural (FCG)

Founded in 2007, FCG seeks investment results that correspond to the price and yield of the ISE-REVERE Natural Gas Index. 90% of the funds are invested in common stocks that make up the index. It is an equal-weighted index that invests mostly in natural gas companies that get most of their revenue from exploration and production of natural gas. This is a non-diversified ETF.

SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Explor & Pro (XOP)

Founded in 2006, XOP tracks the performance of an index made up of the oil and gas exploration and production segment of a U.S. total market composite index. The fund utilizes a replication strategy in tracking the performance of the S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Select Industry Index. XOP invests all but 80% of all assets in the securities comprising the index. XOP is a non-diversified ETF.

iShares Dow Jones U.S. Oil & Ga (IEO)

IEO was founded in 2006 and tracks the price and yield performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Oil Exploration & Production Index. The fund invests 90% in securities of the underlying index. The index measures the performance of the oil exploration and production sub-sector of the U.S. equity market. It includes companies that are engaged in the exploration for and extraction, production, refining, and supply of oil and gas products. IEO is a non-diversified ETF.

ProShares UltraShort Oil & Gas (DUG)

DUG was founded in 2007 as a leveraged inverse ETF. The investment seeks daily investment results that correspond to twice the inverse (-2x) of the daily performance of the index. The fund invests in derivatives should have similar daily return characteristics as twice the inverse (-2x) of the daily return of the index. DUG is a non-diversified ETF.

ProShares Ultra Oil & Gas (DIG)

Founded at the same time as DUG above, DIG seeks daily investment results which correspond to twice (200%) the daily performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Oil & Gas IndexSM. The fund invests in equity securities and derivatives that should have similar daily return characteristics as twice (200%) the daily return of the index. Like DUG, DIG is a non-diversified ETF.

These are a few of the options when it comes to natural gas ETFs on the market today, and this list demonstrates a good starting point to research for an investor looking to add natural gas commodity exposure to their portfolio. Search the natural gas ETF symbol for the respective fund that catches your eye for more information.

In Conclusion

Adding commodity exposure through ETF investing to your portfolio is a great way to add diversity, as well as inflation protection. With the many advantages of ETF trading (intraday investing, low cost, transparency of assets), you can increase your bottom line with respects to investment results. Good luck and happy investing!

Disclosure

I have no positions in any ETFs mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

Disclaimer: Please remember to do your own research prior to making any investment decisions. This article is not a recommendation to buy or sell any securities or stocks, and is the opinion of the author.